Title: Long Time Coming
Author: Becjane
Posted: 09-28-2003
Email:
Rating: NC17
Category:
Content: A/B romance, angst. A/C friendship, eventual romance (you have to be very patient!). A/C/W/F friendship.
Summary:
Spoilers:
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution:
Notes: Set in Sunnydale, after Angel has returned from hell and Cordelia has spilt up with Xander. Wes and Faith are in it, but the Wes/Cordy crush is non existent because it interferes with the story. This is AU Buffy Season 3 apart from the above, so doesn't fit in properly with the real timeline. Angel, Cordelia, and Wes are more 'LA' than they actually were in this season of Buffy, but I figure the 'LA'ness was always part of their personalities and they just didn't show it during the Buffy years. Oh and Angel isn't quite so blind to Buffy's faults either.
Feedback: Yes please, but be gentle! This is my very first fanfic and I'm kind of shy about posting it. There are so many great writers on this board, and I in no way measure up. I'm having fun writing this though, so I thought what the hell!
Thanks/Dedication:Part 5
Cordelia tuned out the sound of her teacher as he droned on about Pearl Harbour and America's subsequent involvement in the Second World War. The brunette stared out of the window, flashing back to when she had woken up in Angel's bed that morning.
Earlier that day ...
Cordelia opened her eyes to find the room still enveloped in pitch-black, even though her body clock informed her it was morning. The unfamiliarity of the room was unsettling, and only made her agitation worse. Cordelia was afraid of the future, of being alone in the world with no-one to guide and take care of her. Her parents may not have been attentive, but she used to have a home, financial security, and a housekeeper to cook her meals and do her domestic chores. Now though, all that was gone. Cordelia realised she didn't even know how to boil an egg; let alone cook herself anything more substantial.
There was a quiet knock on the door, and Angel's muffled voice addressed her through the thick wood. "Cordelia - You awake? It's 7 o'clock."
Cordelia pulled herself up to a sitting position, tucking the sheets and blankets around her. She reached out, fumbling to turn on the lamp. "Yes, come in." she called to the vampire.
The door opened, and Angel's head appeared around it before he stepped into the dimly lit bedroom. The vampire was dressed much the same as he had been yesterday - dark pants and a dark blue, almost black, shirt. The vamp seriously needs some colour in his life, Cordelia thought.
"Good morning. I made some coffee - you want some?" Angel held out the steaming mug to her.
"Thanks." Cordelia took the drink, and sipped at the hot liquid.
"I'm making breakfast too - eggs and toast all right?"
"I didn't know vampires ate; I thought you just sucked blood."
Angel gave her a small smile. "We can eat; we just don't need to, so most of the time I don't bother. Anyway, I meant I was making breakfast for you, not me."
Cordelia peered at him thoughtfully over the rim of her coffee cup. "You know how to cook?"
Angel nodded. "Yeah. It's a skill I picked up a while back."
"Will you teach me? Mrs Franklin always used to cook my meals, but now ...." Cordelia's voice trailed off, and she looked down. "I don't know how to do anything!"
Angel felt an overwhelming desire to take care of the abandoned teenage girl, to shelter her from all harm, but he knew that Cordelia needed to learn to stand on her own two feet if she was ever going to move on with her life. "Sure, I'll teach you, but today I make you breakfast. Okay?"
"Okay." Cordelia agreed, then frowned. "Hey, if you don't eat, where did you get the eggs and bread from?"
"Oh, I went down to the 7-Eleven last night and stocked up. I didn't really know what you liked, so I got a selection of everything."
Cordelia's eyes filled at his thoughtfulness; maybe, she wasn't so alone after all. At least, not until Buffy found out that she was staying here and forced Angel to throw her out, then what would she do? A single tear escaped and ran down her cheek.
"Hey" Angel said soothingly. "I know this is hard for you, but you'll make it through. You are a lot stronger than you think." The vampire sat down on the edge of the bed, cupping her small chin in his hand as he gently brushed her tears away with the soft pad of his thumb.
Cordelia looked up into his sympathetic deep brown eyes. "What about Buffy?"
Angel sighed. "I'll tell her tonight. Don't worry about it."
Cordelia laughed weakly. "That's easier said than done, buddy. It's not you who's going to end up with an ass kicking."
"Buffy won't hurt you." The vampire reassured her, then glanced at his watch. "You need to be getting to school soon; I've left you some towels in the bathroom. Breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes."
Angel got up from the bed, and backed out of the room, leaving Cordelia to get showered and dressed.
Back to the present ...
Cordelia looked over at Buffy and decided that Angel had seriously underestimated the slayer's reaction to their new living arrangements. The cheerleader was convinced that the fallout would involve a considerable amount of pain - mostly hers. Cordelia wasn't sure she could trust Angel to stick up for her, especially when faced with his girlfriend's wrath, despite his reassurances to the contrary. In then end, Buffy was Angel's true love, and the vampire would do anything for her.
That didn't bode well for Cordelia; she was more than likely going to be homeless in a few hour's time, and Sunnydale was hardly the safest place to sleep rough. Cordelia tried to ignore the churning feeling in the pit of her stomach as she returned her attention to her History Class.
* * * * * * * *
Wesley and Faith exited the magic shop, laden down with purchases. "You know - my super slayer strength is supposed to be used to stake vamps, not carry books." Faith complained, as she staggered under the weight of the two encyclopaedic volumes she was bearing. "How long is it going to take you to read these things anyway? We need to be doing something about this apocalypse now, not in a decade."
"I was thinking I'd check the indexes rather than reading the whole book cover to cover." Wesley replied.
"Oh right, of course." Faith said sheepishly. "Guess I didn't think of that - all brawn, no brains me. That's the reason the slayer has a watcher though, isn't it? You're the Smartass and I'm the Kickass."
Wesley laughed. "So I'm your watcher now, am I?"
Faith grinned cheekily at him. "At first, I figured you were kind of pansy ass, but I've changed my mind. You could still use some work, but I think you'll do."
"I'm not sure Buffy shares your opinion."
"Well, I think she's with me on the pansy ass thing." Faith laughed at Wesley's indignant expression. "Look Wes, B and Giles have got this whole slayer/watcher clique thing going on. You can't break into that anymore than I could. Don't beat yourself up about it; it's not worth it."
"I'm failing as a watcher. I always believed that this was the one thing I could be good at, but Buffy has no respect for me whatsoever."
"To hell with B! You're doing just fine. If we avert this apocalypse, then it will be down to you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the one who has got this end-of-the-world crap in hand - not Giles, or Buffy. "
Wesley swallowed the lump that arisen in his throat at Faith's words and looked quickly away from the brunette slayer, trying to hide his reaction from her
"You're not getting all emotional on me, are you?" Faith drawled. "Cus I don't do the hugging thing."
Wesley returned his gaze to meet Faith's and they both smiled, each silently acknowledging the new level of understanding between them.
* * * * * * * *
Angel made his way to Sunnydale High by way of the sewers; school was over for the day, but it was still twilight outside so, unless he wanted to get burnt to a crisp, the souled vampire had to take this underground route to the high school. Angel entered through the basement and stepped out into the deserted hallway, his acute hearing immediately picking up the muffled sound of voices emanating from the Library at the other end of the corridor.
Angel had expected Cordelia home a couple of hours earlier, but the young girl hadn't shown up. Angel decided that she had probably gone to the Library straight from school, but, try as he might, he couldn't shake the memory of Cordelia's comment from the previous afternoon. Daddy will not let me go so easily. He'll try and get me back once he realises I'm gone.
So, instead of waiting for the cover of darkness, Angel had set out for the school determined to check whether the young cheerleader was safe. As he got closer to the Library, Angel was able to identify individual voices, and he sighed in relief when Cordelia's clear timbre rose above the general buzz of conversation.
The dark-haired vampire stopped in his tracks as he arrived at the Library doors, a disturbing thought striking him. His attention had been entirely focused on making sure Cordelia was unharmed, and he, therefore, hadn't even considered how he would tell his girlfriend about his new house guest. Angel sighed; it didn't really matter how he told her, Buffy was going to be apoplectic. The vampire took an unneeded breath, then went to meet his fate.
"Hey, you're early. I wasn't expecting you until later." Buffy bounced over to greet him, planting a quick kiss on his cheek.
The young slayer was wearing a light grey pair of low-slung jogging pants and a tight peach vest top that left her midriff bare. Her blond hair was caught at the back of her head, secured with a grey scrunchie. The wound that the Kryzlic demon had inflicted on her was covered by a small bandage and looked to be almost healed. Angel reached out to run his finger over the tender flesh. "That looks better."
"Yeah, pretty much all gone now." Buffy's smooth skin was covered by a light sheen of sweat, the result of a recent training session. "I can't really feel it anymore, so it's not slowing me down any."
Angel's deep brown eyes surveyed the room seeking out Cordelia who turned out to be sitting on the steps leading up to the book stacks; her eyes lost in thought. The vampire returned his gaze to Buffy. How am I going to explain this to her and not divulge Cordelia's secret?
"I ... Umm ... I have something to tell you" the vampire began. "Cordelia - uhh - she has some family problems, and needs a place to stay. I've got plenty of spare rooms at the mansion, so ..." Angel trailed off as he watched his words register on Buffy's countenance. The young slayer's expression went through a full gamut of emotions - shock, disbelief, and doubt before, finally, settling on pure unadulterated rage.
"You're letting Cordelia Chase stay with you? Are you out of your tiny mind?" Buffy's raised voice garnered the attention of the whole room. "Why would you even ..." Buffy broke off. "All right, so what fake sob story did the little bitch give you?"
"That's non of your business." Angel firmly replied. "Cordelia told me in confidence."
"I can't believe you're falling for this, Angel. You know what she's like; family troubles - yeah right." Buffy snorted. "The only family trouble Cordelia has is deciding what to spend Daddy's money on next!"
"Don't act like you know me Buffy because you haven't got a clue." Cordelia interrupted Buffy's tirade. "You don't know anything about my life." She gathered her things and turned to Angel. "I'll go get my stuff; I guess I can find a motel room somewhere. I can't carry everything though - you don't mind if I leave the rest of my things at your place until I find somewhere more permanent, do you?"
"Cordy - you're not going anywhere. I said you could stay, and I meant it."
"But Buffy ..."
"Buffy needs to grow up and get over herself" Angel told the cheerleader, then turned back to the petite slayer. "Not everything is about you, Buffy. I offered Cordelia a place to stay because things are pretty bad for her at home right now. I am going to help her, and be her friend whether you like it or not. If you have an issue with that, then I'm afraid it's your problem. It's not mine, or Cordelia's. You're the slayer, a champion, and it's about time you started acting like one. You're supposed to be above such petty behaviour."
Buffy stared at her boyfriend open-mouthed; he had *never* spoken to her like that before. "You don't know what it's like."
"What? Being different? Oh, I think I do. You're not the only one who doesn't have a 'normal life,' Buffy. Take a good look around you. I'm a 243 year old cursed vampire with a soul, Faith's a slayer just like you, Giles and Wesley are watchers, Willow's a witch, Oz is a werewolf, and Cordelia and Xander are two ordinary people who have been sucked into this crazy supernatural world. Yet, they are all here today helping you fight this year's apocalypse. Not one of them has complained, or expects anything in return. It's only *you* who thinks that you are owed something. You're nearly eighteen years old Buffy; it's about time you grew up, and stopped acting like a spoilt little girl."
"Wow! You can talk in words of more than one syllable - who knew?" Faith broke the overwhelming silence that had descended following Angel's declamation.
Angel grinned at the brunette slayer. "I've been practising." He stepped towards Cordelia, who was gaping at him in stunned disbelief, and removed her book bag from her nerveless fingers. "You are staying with me; I got you a room ready today. There is absolutely no way that you are going to some dodgy motel, okay?" The vampire gently ran the backs of his fingers down Cordelia's cheek as she nodded.
"Right, everyone get back to work; the Kryzlic demon killed another person last night. We need to make some Balthrim asap because this cannot be allowed to continue." Wesley turned to Cordelia. "I need someone to assist me with translating some text from The Niazthian Codex - maybe you can help? Willow, Xander, Oz, continue with your research into the origins of Balthrim - Buffy can help you. Giles is trying to locate a particular text concerning demon raising rituals, and should be back in Sunnydale tomorrow. Faith, Angel - how about you see if you can locate where the Kryzlic Demon is residing? We need to know where to find it once we have the means to kill it."
Angel nodded at the watcher, then followed Faith towards the Library doors pausing as he passed Buffy. "I'm sorry, but it needed to be said. I know you don't mean to be, but you can be pretty selfish at times. They've all given up their normal lives too; try to remember that." The vampire leaned down, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "It doesn't mean that I don't love you."
Buffy watched silently as Angel left with Faith; the young slayer felt like her world was being pulled out from under her. Buffy had always relied on Angel to be there for her, no matter what, but he had essentially just chosen Cordelia Chase over her. The vampire knew how she felt about Cordelia, but he had still invited the girl to stay. It didn't matter that Angel just saw it as helping someone in need, as far as Buffy was concerned it was a betrayal of his love for her.
The slayer would bide her time for now, but if Cordelia Chase thought she could move in on Buffy Summer's boyfriend without any consequences, then she had another thing coming.
Part 6
Faith looked over at Angel as the two of them retraced his and Buffy's patrol of two nights ago. They were hoping that the vampire could pick up the scent of the Kryzlic demon, so they could track it to its hiding place. "You do realise you could have ended up a eunuch back there, don't you?"
Angel smiled. "The thought did cross my mind. You don't think I was too harsh?"
"Yes, but you needed to be." Faith hurried on, following Angel's stricken look. "B has got this major poor-me attitude going on. Everyone is just too chicken to confront her with it, or else they think it's justifiable because she's *the slayer*" Faith emphasised her 'slayer' statement by making quotation marks with her fingers. "Like that's an excuse for her to behave like she's superior to everyone else, or something. Gotta admit though; I thought you were one of them. When did you grow some balls?"
"Always had them, honey." Angel replied wickedly, his voice adopting Angelus-like undertones. "Just kept them hidden this last couple of years. Well, most of the time anyway. Kinda caused a whole lot of trouble last time I got them out though."
Faith laughed incredulously at the vampire's risqué witticism. "You don't talk to B like that do you? I can't imagine Miss Prim-and-Proper tolerating that kind of smutty talk, never mind joking about her tragic love life. Gotta say though; as far as losing your virginity goes, B's must've been right up there with the best of 'em. She can't say it wasn't memorable."
Angel felt the guilt wash over him as he remembered one of the most unforgettable nights of his life. With Darla, the sex had been good, amazing even, but that's all it had been - pure, physical sex. Angel had never felt as alive as he had in the slayer's arms that night. It was the first, and only time that he had truly made love to a woman, and, despite Buffy's inexperience, their coupling had far surpassed the thousands of times that he and Darla had shared a bed. Nonetheless, the loss of his soul and the re-emergence of Angelus had followed, shattering the idyllic nature of that moment in time forever. Angel closed his eyes in shame as he recalled Angelus's cruel taunts to Buffy the following day; the young girl had given herself to him so completely and that had been her reward. Faith was right, Buffy couldn't say it wasn't memorable; it was, just for all the wrong reasons.
"It wasn't your fault." Faith asserted, noticing the vampire's pained expression. "You didn't know what would happen; you can't be held responsible for what came next."
Angel sighed, "I wish I could believe that Faith, but it's not that simple. Angelus is always there, deep inside of me; we're not two separate people. It's just that with a soul, I'm the one in the driving seat and without a soul - Angelus is."
Faith nodded as understanding dawned on her. "I guess it's kinda like the rush I feel immediately after a fight. My slayer blood is pumping around my veins and I feel like I'm going to explode. Sometimes, I have this desperate urge to kill something, anything - demon or human - just to satisfy that craving. It takes a significant amount of willpower to not give in to that impulse. If it's that close to the surface in me, I can't imagine what it's like within you. I can let off steam in ... umm ... other ways, but you can't even do that." Faith looked at the tense vampire curiously. "You walk a fine line Angel - I don't know how you do it."
"That's because you've never murdered anyone. I can still remember every one of those innocent people that I killed. I can still smell their fear, see the pain I inflicted on them, and hear them begging for me to stop. When the gypsies cursed me with a soul in Romania, I thought I'd go insane from the memory of what I was. I guess I did kind of lose it for a while, but in the end giving in to that insanity was way too easy. I eventually found a way to offset all the pain that I'd caused."
"By fighting for the opposite side." Faith surmised, "For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction - see I did learn *something* in school."
Angel nodded, "That's the theory anyway, but the scales are still a long way from being balanced. I'm not sure if they ever will be; after all I have a hundred years of untold evil to make up for."
"Well, this is an uplifting conversation isn't it? Excuse me while I just go and slit my wrists." Faith wisecracked, then looked at Angel sheepishly. "Sorry, can't help it. Conversation gets all heavy - I make a funny."
"There are worse ways of dealing with things, I suppose." Angel replied solemnly.
The vampire came to a halt as his nose picked up the scent of Buffy's blood, mingled with that of the Kryzlic Demon. Angel looked around; he had been so engrossed in his conversation with Faith that he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. The two of them stood on the southern edge of the graveyard, the only light coming from the moon, and a street lamp that threw an orange hue over everything. To the right was the huge tree that the Kryzlic Demon had leapt out of two nights ago, surprising both the blond slayer and her vampire lover. The overhanging branches cast dark shadows across the consecrated earth.
"This is the place isn't it? You can feel the aftermath of evil hanging in the air." Faith shuddered, a chill running through her. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have slayer senses."
Angel nodded, his predatory eyes scanning the area. He was determined not to get caught out again.
"Anything?" Faith asked.
The vampire shook his head, "Not really, but I think it went that way." He pointed towards a row of dense shrubs. "There's still a faint scent. It'll be easier to track once I get away from the smell of Buffy; slayer blood is pretty potent stuff."
"And I *so* did not need to know that." Faith murmured, as she followed the tall vampire into the bushes.
The two of them made their way through the thick undergrowth, cutting away the more stubborn branches that blocked their path with Angel's axe. They eventually emerged into a small clearing that was completely surrounded by trees and bushes, making it virtually inaccessible. Angel came to a sudden standstill without warning, and Faith ran into the back of him unable to arrest her forward momentum. "What? What is it?" she whispered, clutching the back of his leather jacket to steady herself.
"The scent goes off every which way from here." Angel kept his voice low, realising they were probably very close to the Kryzlic demon's lair.
Faith walked slowly into the centre of the small clearing; her knife held at the ready up near her shoulder. "There's nothing here," she stated, "Unless it lives in a tree or something." The brunette slayer looked up warily.
Angel shook his head. "No, too conspicuous. Wait!" he said, holding up his hand with his palm facing outwards. Faith stopped. "Move back the other way." The vampire instructed, indicating where she should go with his fingers. The slayer did as he asked, then stopped when Angel again raised his hand. "What?" she hissed.
"The ground sounds different, more hollow."
Faith tapped her boot against the grass, and listened to the faint echo - Angel was right, there was something here. She knelt down on the ground, and felt around with her fingertips realising there was a circle of turf that had been cut away from the rest of the earth. She slowly peeled back the amalgamated mud and grass to reveal a wooden trapdoor. The brunette slayer caught hold of the loop of rope secured to the door, but stopped as Angel grabbed her hands preventing her from opening it.
"But ..."
"No sense in giving the thing a heads up, we need to hold onto the element of surprise." Angel patiently explained. "We know where it lives now, so we'll come back when we've got the poison. We'll be sitting ducks if we go in there unarmed."
Faith nodded in agreement. "All right. Let's go." She carefully replaced the turf, then followed the vampire as they retraced their steps back towards the graveyard.
* * * * * * * *
When Angel and Faith returned to the Library, they found Wesley and Cordelia sitting at the central table poring over Angel's copy of The Niazthian Codex.
"Where did everyone go?" Faith asked, searching the room for Buffy and the others.
"Home - Willow cracked it." Cordelia replied, holding up a pad with Willow's scrawled handwriting all over it.
"We just need to obtain a few supplies tomorrow and then we will be ready." Wesley continued, as the slayer and the vampire sat down in two empty chairs on the opposite side of the table.
"Good job we found where the Kryzlic is holed up then, isn't it?" Faith interjected. "And when I say holed up - I mean quite literally. I think the thing might have aspirations of becoming a Hobbit."
"We'll need to find a way to lure it out." Angel pondered, thoughtfully scratching at his chin. "It'll have the advantage in its own habitat."
"Another job for Bait Girl then." Cordelia said, somewhat sarcastically. "I'll just stand there looking pretty and wait to be attacked."
Angel frowned, "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
"Why?" Cordelia replied. "How is it different to any other time?"
Angel looked guiltily at the young cheerleader. It wasn't, of course. It was just that this girl was now part of his life, and on her way to becoming his friend. His need to protect her was now paramount whereas before it had been a non issue. The vampire sighed, he couldn't believe he had stood by and done nothing while Cordelia was used to draw out all manner of demons. It would not be happening again. "I'm sure there's another way to flush it out. We need some tear gas, or at least a demon equivalent."
"I think I can probably come up with something." Wesley said, "There are plenty of demon disabling potions around. I'll just need to find the most suitable."
"Hey Guys!" Faith interrupted the discussion, "Are we bonding? Forming our own little Scooby Gang?"
"No way! I mean - Scooby Gang - that's *so* last season." Cordelia hurriedly explained her outburst, as three pairs of eyes swung towards her. "We're the ...." she looked around the little group, her eyes finally settling on Angel, "...Fang Gang." she finished with a flourish.
"I don't have Fangs." Faith protested.
"I wouldn't say that." Angel mumbled under his breath.
"Hey! I heard that." Faith whacked Angel on the arm. If the blow had been aimed at anyone other than the vampire, then it would have knocked them clean out of the chair.
"Oww!" Angel cried, rubbing at his shoulder. "That hurt!"
His brown-eyed gaze turned to Cordelia as she began to laugh. "What?"
"You're such a dork! I thought you were supposed to be a badass vampire. Scourge of Europe - isn't that what they called you?"
"I'm semi-retired." Angel quipped, a rare smile crossing his face. Cordelia beamed back at him causing his smile widen.
Faith observed the little exchange in silence; Cordelia hadn't seen Angel fight. The vampire usually played back up to Buffy and herself, but he fought with extreme skill, and a certain amount of viciousness. Faith knew that Buffy trained with the vampire regularly, but she was quite sure that Angel had never really shown the blond slayer everything that he was capable of.
Wesley looked at the vampire thoughtfully. Cordelia was right; Angel's personality did not seem to fit with what he had read about Angelus. The watcher knew, however, that this was the vampire that had terrorised Sunnydale only last year. He was the fiend that had tortured Giles and murdered Jenny Calender. Wesley didn't know if a soul could really make that much of a difference, but Angel had given him a chance, so he decided that he owed the vampire the same courtesy. The young watcher wasn't sure whether they could ever be friends, but that didn't mean they had to be enemies.
"Buffy didn't give you a hard time after we left, did she?" Angel asked the cheerleader worriedly.
Cordelia shook her head. "You could have cut the frosty atmosphere with a knife, but no she didn't say anything. I'm not yet ready to believe I got off so lightly though."
Angel sighed; he wished he could say that Cordelia was wrong, but he knew Buffy and he was well aware that his girlfriend was not going to just let this go. It bothered Angel that Buffy's feeling's weren't uppermost in his mind right now. He supposed it came down to what he had said to Faith about needing to atone for all the pain he had unleashed on the world. Angel wanted to do the right thing, which meant helping Cordelia out of the mess her life had become. If he turned his back on the girl, then he was betraying that mission. Buffy had always swiftly changed the subject whenever he had tried to talk to her about his life before they met, so she would never understand his motivation.
"I'll talk to her again when she's cooled down a bit. Come on, we should get going. It's kind of late." The vampire turned to Wesley. "What time tomorrow?"
"I suggest we reconvene here at 7pm. Mr Giles should be back by then, and I'll have purchased everything we need to make the Balthrim."
Angel nodded and picked up Cordelia's book bag, "Okay, see you tomorrow."
"That is so going to end badly." Faith commented, as the vampire and the cheerleader left the Library together.
Wesley nodded; he couldn't help agreeing with his slayer on that.
* * * * * * * *
Cordelia's eyes filled with tears again. Stop crying for god's sake.
"What is it? What's wrong? Don't you like it?" Angel asked her with mounting concern.
"No . . I mean yes . . I just didn't expect . ." Cordelia trailed off as she looked around the bedroom that Angel had decorated for her. Dark, navy drapes still hung at the windows, but the walls had been painted a pale blue colour, giving the room much needed light; she could still smell the fresh paint in the air. Crisp, white sheets had been put on the double bed together with a lilac coloured throw, and her teddy bear stood propped up against the pillows. Her clothes had been unpacked, put into the chest of drawers next to the bed, or hung up in the wooden closet that stood in the corner of the room. A circular mirror had been fixed to the wall above the solid oak dresser, and her toiletries were neatly stacked up in rows on the dresser surface. Two vases of fresh flowers filled the room with their heavenly scent. "How did you ...?"
"Wal Mart has underground access." Angel shrugged, as if that explained everything.
"Oh." Cordelia paused; nobody had ever done anything like this for her before. She was used to presents from her parents, usually the best that money could buy, but the gifts had been given with little thought. Angel, it seemed, had thought of everything even remembering to get her a mirror. Cordelia wiped her tears away with her fingertips, then crossed the room to where the vampire stood near the door. "Thank you." she whispered to him sincerely, took his handsome face between her small hands, and pressed a warm gentle kiss to his full lips.
Angel felt a shock run through him at her touch; he wasn't used to human contact. Apart from the brief hug that Cordelia had bestowed on him the previous day, Buffy was the only person to have touched him in decades. Before he even realised what he was doing, Angel pulled the pretty teenager closer, one hand going to the small of her back, and the other cupping the back of her head in his palm holding her to him to prolong the kiss.
Reality kicked in when he felt Cordelia's lips part slightly under his, and she gasped at his unexpected actions. Angel quickly released her and stepped back. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I ... I'm sorry." he repeated, not really knowing what to say. "I'll leave you to .. umm .. well, .. Good night." The vampire quickly turned and left the room, the door closing with a soft click behind him.
Part 7
Cordelia sat in her car outside Angel's mansion trying to pluck up courage to enter hew new home. She glanced over at the packages sitting in the car's passenger seat; she had gone to the Mall after school to get herself some essentials. If Cordelia was brutally honest with herself, however, the shopping trip had been more to avoid Angel than of any great need for the items she'd purchased.
The vampire had not been up when Cordelia had descended the stairs that morning, so she'd quickly escaped the mansion, stopping to pick up a cappuccino and a muffin from Starbucks on her way to school. Now many hours later, she was back and facing Angel was an inevitability. Her fingertips went to her mouth; she could still feel the pressure from the vampire's lips. The kiss had essentially been platonic, even if it had lasted longer than was strictly necessary, but Cordelia's insides had turned to jelly from the gentle way that Angel had held her to him.
Cordelia shook her head; she didn't understand why he had done that. She knew that Angel loved Buffy, so why had he prolonged the friendly kiss she'd given him to thank him for his kindness. It scared her somewhat - she'd just escaped from being forced into a sexual relationship that she didn't want. What if Angel was trying to seduce her with his philanthropy knowing that she had no-one to protect her? She looked again at the mansion. Well, there is only one way to find out, she decided and got out the car.
* * * * * * * *
Angel looked up from his book as he heard the car door slam. He thought he'd heard the car draw up ten minutes ago, but when Cordelia hadn't come in the vampire convinced himself he was mistaken. He got up, and began to pace the room trying to figure out the best way to reassure the girl that he wasn't some pervert who had only invited her into his home in order to take advantage of her. The memory of last night's kiss was still fresh; Angel had tried to push the experience to the back of his mind, but was failing miserably in his endeavours. Cordelia had tasted good, sweet and slightly spicy. He loved Buffy, he knew that, but he craved human contact and affection like a starving man did food. Cordelia's warmth and easy affection was something he wasn't used to and he didn't know how to deal with the feelings her tactile nature engendered within him.
Angel stopped as the door opened and Cordelia entered laden down with various packages. He quickly crossed the room and took some of the items from her, placing them on the table that stood against the wall near the door. The vampire watched as Cordelia nervously ran her fingers through her long dark hair, smiling at him warily.
He looked down at his feet, and cleared his throat. "Look about last night. I'm sorry okay? It's just you kissed me and I ..." he sighed. "People don't touch me very often."
Cordelia looked at Angel's bent head and a glimmer of comprehension sparked within her. She understood loneliness - she'd felt lonely and isolated all her life, a result of her parents indifference to her presence. To compensate, whenever anyone had shown her any affection, she'd reached out and grabbed it with both hands. Gradually, over time, she'd become the one to initiate such interactions; seeking out the means to assuage her loneliness herself. Cordelia was seventeen years old, she couldn't imagine what it was like to endure decades of loneliness in the way that Angel obviously had. No wonder he'd grasped onto the small amount of affection she'd shown him last night. Angel hadn't tried to deepen the kiss, or take advantage of her in anyway; she belatedly realised. He'd just wanted to prolong the contact; Cordelia could relate to that.
"Hey! No big. After all, who wouldn't want to keep kissing me? I've been voted 'the most kissable' two years running now."
Angel relaxed, and lifted his gaze to hers; she wasn't angry. He still needed to make sure she understood that she was safe with him though. "I won't touch you again, not unless you want me to that is. Shit! That came out wrong - I didn't mean it like that - I meant that I would only touch you if - you know what I meant right?" He appealed to her.
Cordelia began to laugh at his stuttering, but nodded "I think so - although you really need to work on your conversation skills. Relax, big guy, okay? I understand loneliness, believe me. I'm surrounded by people every day, but non of them really know me. I don't have any real friends."
"Until now." Angel said. "I want to be your friend Cordy. I'm just not sure how good I'll be at it."
"Oh, I think you're doing all right so far." Cordelia said softly, liking the way he had shortened her name. He'd called her Cordy the other day in the Library, she realised; when he was reassuring her that he wasn't going to throw her out. "I just have one condition though."
"What's that?"
"I get to be your friend too. We got a deal?"
Angel nodded "Yeah, we've got a deal. Now didn't *my friend* say something about wanting a cooking lesson? There's a couple of hours before we need to get to the school, that's enough time to make pasta and pesto sauce."
* * * * * * * *
Cordelia sat on the steps, watching as Willow placed candles in a circular pattern on the Library's dusty floor. Wesley was carefully measuring quantities of various coloured powders into an earthenware pot on the table, Giles ticking each one off their list as he did so. Xander was talking to Oz nearby; the two of them seemed to have got over their differences with regard to Willow. Cordelia studied her former boyfriend, and realised she no longer felt any pain at his betrayal either.
Speaking of friends, Cordelia shot Faith a quick grin as the dark-haired slayer sat down besides her, and started to polish the wicked looking knife that was to be anointed with the Balthrim. Following on from Faith's diversionary training session, the two girls had quickly discovered that, despite appearances, they actually had quite a bit in common. Cordelia was beginning to think that maybe she'd be able to confide in Faith about her family problems. Angel was sympathetic, but also male and there were a few things that she didn't feel comfortable talking to him about.
"Looks like B and Angel have patched things up." Faith said, nodding over to where Angel and Buffy were deep in conversation. The slayer had her hand on the vampire's thigh, and Angel, in turn, was rubbing his fingertips in slow circles on the exposed skin of Buffy's lower back.
"Looks like." Cordelia agreed, trying to ignore the twinge of jealousy she felt at the sight.
Her cooking lesson had been fun - Angel was really kind of dorky, and she delighted in teasing him as he patiently showed her how to make pesto sauce. Cordelia could tell that Angel really didn't know what to make of her, and that only prompted her to increase her efforts to coax a laugh out of the broody vampire. She eventually succeeded and was rewarded with the rich timbre of Angel's deep laugh, a sound that sent shivers down her spine and provoked a warm tingling in her belly.
Cordelia had always found Angel attractive, in a salty goodness kind of way, but had long since allocated him to her unobtainable category. Now, as she got to know the real person behind the enigma, her attraction to him was growing steadily by the hour despite how hard she tried to suppress those feelings. Cordelia did not want to fall for someone else who thought Buffy Summers was the best thing since sliced bread, or a souled vampire who was effectively neutered by his curse.
Not that I actually want to sleep with Angel, she quickly reminded herself. He's eye-candy, that's all. Why ruin a potentially good friendship with a fling?
* * * * * * * *
Angel was confused by his girlfriend's about face. When he and Cordelia had arrived at the School earlier, Buffy had immediately pulled him to one side apologising for her behaviour the previous evening. The slayer's apology had seemed genuine, but Angel wasn't entirely convinced. It was fairly obvious that Buffy was staking her claim over him; she hadn't kept her hands to herself all night, touching him in a way that wasn't entirely appropriate in company. At regular intervals, she shot quick glances at Cordelia to make sure that the girl was observing her every move.
Angel knew that Buffy was almost as possessive as he was, especially when it came to him. She never encouraged him to interact with her circle of friends, preferring instead to keep him to herself and visit him at the mansion alone. The fact that she was suddenly okay with Cordelia's presence in his life made the vampire suspicious of her motives. The young slayer hadn't offered a similar apology to Cordelia, so Angel worried that the cheerleader was going to bear the brunt of Buffy's displeasure when he wouldn't be around to prevent it from happening.
Angel looked over at his friend as she sat on the steps talking quietly to Faith. He recalled how she had made him laugh earlier; the sound was so alien to his ears that it startled him. The pretty teenager was beginning to get under his skin, her friendly attitude and refreshing honesty warming him from the inside out, making him feel more human than he had in a long time.
Cordelia had caused a few raised eyebrows when she had entered the Library that evening. She had changed into more comfortable attire after their cooking lesson, and wore a pair of dark grey combat pants with two hot pink stripes up the outer seam. Her tight T-shirt was of a much paler pink, and ended about an inch above her waistband, exposing a strip of golden skin. The cheerleader had designer pumps on her feet, and her hair was caught up in a high ponytail, a few dark strands escaping to frame her pretty face that was almost devoid of makeup.
Cordelia was usually decked out head to toe in smart designer clothes, so the casual look was a startling contrast. Not to mention sexy, Angel thought privately; remembering how the material of her pants emphasised the twin globes of her round bottom, and the stretchy material of her top fit snugly over her full breasts.
Angel felt Buffy's fingers dig into his thigh as his gaze lingered a bit too long on Cordelia. He quickly returned his attention to the slayer, just as Wesley announced that everything was ready for Willow to cast the spell that would bring about the mystical poison.
Giles shut off the library lights, plunging everything into darkness. Willow moved to stand in the centre of the circle of candles, then slowly lit each one, in turn, with a long taper. Wesley gingerly passed her the earthenware bowl containing the ingredients to create the Balthrim, and the red-haired witch placed it on the floor lowering herself to sit cross-legged in front of it. Willow closed her eyes in concentration, lifted her hands palms facing upwards, and began to chant in a slow, measured voice.
Cordelia felt the oppressive weight of the magic enter the room and it sucked the energy out of her. She staggered slightly and Angel was across the room in an instant to steady her. Cordelia gazed around and saw that Xander, Giles and Wesley were similarly affected. She watched mesmerised as the candles slowly levitated off the floor, and began to circle around the witch, gradually picking up speed until the light from them was one concentric ring of yellow flame. Willow's eyes suddenly snapped open and she lifted her arms higher into the air in supplication, before bringing her palms together with a resounding crack. The powders in the bowl exploded, and the candles fell to the ground extinguished by some unknown force. The young witch let her head drop wearily drained of all energy herself now the spell was complete.
"What the hell happened?" Angel demanded, his arms still supporting Cordelia, who was sure that her legs would give out under her if the vampire released her from his embrace.
"The translation of the spell isn't that clear; the language is so ancient that most of it has little meaning in the modern world." Wesley answered Angel's question as best he could as he sank wearily into a chair. "About all I could figure out was that the spell would need to draw on the strength of human life to generate enough energy to fuse the raw components into Balthrim."
"And you didn't think to mention it?" Cordelia's voice had a faint edge of hysteria to it.
"Don't worry; it won't have caused any lasting damage. The spell just borrowed the energy from our aura's, that's all. The effects shouldn't last very long and a good night's sleep should definitely replenish the lost strength." Wesley replied.
"It better." Angel said ominously, his brown eyes flickering gold as he helped a weak Cordelia into a chair.
"Why didn't it affect me, B and Oz?" Faith asked curiously.
"You're not pure human beings." Wesley explained apologetically.
"I have a feeling I should be insulted by that." Faith replied, with a broad grin.
"Be careful with that Willow!" Giles warned sharply as the witch lifted the earthenware pot from the floor, and placed it on the table. They all gathered around; the bowl was now half-filled with a bright blue liquid.
"So how does this work?" Faith asked, unsheathing the knife.
"You dip the blade into the Balthrim, and the metal absorbs the poison." Giles explained "A cut from the knife is deadly to demons and humans alike."
"How are we supposed to prevent ourselves from cutting the wrong person in the heat of the battle?" Faith eyed the blade with trepidation.
"That's why I chose that weapon." Wesley said, taking the knife from the slayer. He located a small indentation on the hilt of the knife and pressed; the wide blade retracted into the handle exposing a smaller inner blade.
"That is so cool!" Faith exclaimed.
"We'll have whoever is chosen to fight the Kryzlic anoint the inner blade, then they'll keep the outer blade on during the fight, only retracting it when they stab the Kryzlic."
"What do you mean 'whoever is chosen,' it'll just be the person who gets the best shot won't it?"
Giles shook his head. "It doesn't work like that Faith. Balthrim is a mystical poison, whoever anoints the blade has to be the one to kill the demon."
"So who's going to do it? Me or B?"
"Neither of you."
"What?" The two slayers and Giles all turned to look at Angel.
"Buffy, that thing threw you aside like a rag doll. I fought it, and I know how strong it is. It takes a demon to defeat a monster like that. I'll fight the Kryzlic." Angel extended his hand for the blade.
Wesley gave the weapon to the vampire. Everything he had read about the Kryzlic suggested Angel was right; he was the most qualified to fight this duel.
"But Angel, you can't." Buffy protested. "Faith and I are used to battles like this; we're slayers. I know you're a good fighter, but you've never gone one on one with a demon before."
Angel stared at his girlfriend incredulously, then suddenly let loose with peal upon peal of laughter.
"Buffy, what do you think I did before I came to Sunnydale?" he asked, once he'd composed himself. "You've been a slayer for what? Three years. I'm 243, I've fought more demons *one on one* than you've had hot dinners. I think I can handle it."
Buffy flushed angrily; Angel was laughing at her - what was wrong with him lately!?
Cordelia rested her chin in her hand, her mind was fuzzy, and her body still tingled from the after effects of Willow's spell as well as from the sound of Angel's laughter. She watched, fascinated, as the vampire dipped the blade into the bowl, and the metal absorbed the blue poison like a sponge.
Angel held the weapon up in front of his face, studying it carefully, before sheathing the deadly blade with the outer knife. "Okay - Lets get this show on the road."
Continue on...